Sudan Says Army Repelled RSF Drone Attack in Ad-Damazin

By Al Mayadeen English

A Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attack targeting critical civilian infrastructure in Ad-Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state, was thwarted.

The Sudanese army intercepted a drone attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targeting civilian service facilities in Ad-Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state, authorities reported on Sunday.

In a statement, the Blue Nile state government said the armed forces successfully repelled the RSF’s attempt to strike civilian infrastructure, labeling the group as a “terrorist militia”. The statement condemned “in the strongest terms” the drone attack and the RSF’s attempt to hit the city’s power station, without providing details on casualties or damage.

The power station serves as a critical facility, providing electricity for water access, hospitals, dialysis centers, and neonatal care units, the statement noted. Authorities described the attack as a “clear disregard for the lives of civilians and their humanitarian needs.”

Officials reassured residents that the “situation is under control”, emphasizing that the Sudanese army is carrying out its duty to maintain security and stability, protect lives and property, and prevent efforts to plunge the country into chaos.

Hundreds flee Kadugli following RSF assault

Meanwhile, the displacement crisis has also deepened in the wider Kordofan region, with hundreds of residents fleeing Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, as insecurity worsened amid escalating attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In a statement released on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said field teams from the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) estimated on December 5 that between 350 and 450 people were forced to leave Kadugli due to rapidly deteriorating security conditions.

According to the IOM, those displaced sought refuge in several areas across West and North Kordofan, including Abu Zabad and Sheikan.

Kadugli has faced a prolonged siege by both the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu since the early months of the conflict, compounded by repeated artillery and drone attacks that have left the city increasingly isolated and vulnerable.

A harrowing pattern of violence

This comes as part of the RSF's brutal pattern of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Following their late-October capture of El Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in western Sudan, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have advanced east into the oil-rich Kordofan region, which is divided into three states. Reports of mass killings, sexual violence, looting, and abductions emerged in the wake of El Fasher’s fall.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk warned on Thursday of a potential new wave of atrocities in Sudan amid intense fighting in Kordofan. “It is truly shocking to see history repeating itself in Kordofan so soon after the horrific events in El Fasher,” he said.

Since the RSF seized the North Kordofan city of Bara on October 25, the UN has recorded at least 269 civilian deaths from aerial strikes, artillery shelling, or summary executions. A separate army drone strike in Kauda, the SPLM-N stronghold in South Kordofan, killed at least 48 people last week, according to UN reports.

Dozens of civilians, including children, were killed in a paramilitary drone attack on the army-controlled town of Kalogi in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, local officials reported on December 7. The assault, which occurred on December 4, targeted a kindergarten and a hospital, and struck again as residents rushed to aid the victims, according to Essam al-Din al-Sayed, head of the Kalogi administrative unit.

The UN also estimates that more than 40,000 people have fled Kordofan over the past month. Analysts suggest the RSF’s offensive is designed to breach the army’s remaining defensive lines in central Sudan and pave the way for future attempts to retake major cities, including the capital, Khartoum.